Love and Other Hardships
by The Unsinkable Molly Rose
Summary: AU Klaroline. The story of how the birth of a child saved the life of a young couple, and the hardships the couple had to face to reach this point. Rated M for smut in later chapters. Other parings include Mabekah, Stelena and Bamon.
1. Chapter 1

Title – Love and Other Hardships  
Description – AU Klaroline. The story of how the birth of a child saved the life of a young couple, and the hardships the couple had to face to reach this point.  
Disclaimer – I do not own vampire diaries, as if I did, it would be on much much later.  
A/N – This story is set in the north of England. Also, I apologise for leaving my other story, and I will catch up with it! Soon. Maybe. No, I promise that I will!

The American poet, Carl Sandburg once said 'A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on' and to be honest, I have to agree. I'm not going to lie, it was hard for me and Nik. From our first meeting to this very day, our lives had been one downfall to the next. The worst time was when I was in my mid twenties. I was in a dark place. Probably the worse place that I have been, but she saved me. Nik helped us too, but my Daniella was the icing on the cake. It is hard to understand how I coped without her, but then I remember that my Niklaus was always there, spurring me on when things got bad.

I didn't really have a very good family dynamic as a child. My mother would always be arguing with my father, for stupid reasons, such as who had put the washing out, and whose turn it was to wash up. When my dad walked out, it wasn't that much of a surprise. I felt like my mum had been expecting it for a while. Despite the fact I was only ten, I was fairly perceptive. I think the reason why my dad walked out was the most surprising thing of all. I thought that it was because he couldn't put up with my mother anymore, but no. He had found somebody else, someone better. I supposed that it was to be expected that my father wasn't going to stay single for the rest of his life, but I never expected his next marriage to be with a man.

I never blamed my mother for being bitter after he left her. I mean, the comments that she got from the other women in her neighbourhood really hit her hard, and she grew tougher and more closed off than she already was. The only person who she would ever show her true side to, was me. It was still rare though, and I only saw it when she was in a good mood or I was in a bad mood. We were very similar, me and my mother, and that was probably the reason why we both argued so much. We weren't just similar in personalities though, we also looked very alike. With long blonde hair, blue eyes, and similar facial structure, it wasn't hard to tell that we were related. I remembered in my later years at school, I would often storm to Elena's or Bonnie's house and I would sleep at one of their houses to escape the nightmare that was my mother. Then, a few months after Nik came it to my life, I would often hide at his.

I'll start my story from my last year in secondary school, when everything seemed to change for me. I was a horrible person. I was smart, popular and totally bitchy. Most of it came from the bullying that I had put up with in my earlier years, as people gradually started to figure out the reason as to why my father had walked out. Bonnie and Elena were always there, and although I turned mean and hypocritical, I could always find the time for them. Everyone knew me as a bit of a slut, or as one girl called me to my face, the 'school bike'. I had to give her credit for not saying behind my back, the ballsy cow, but that was just Vicki Donovan. It didn't stop me from having a cat fight with her, but I didn't hurt her as much as I could have. I didn't pay attention in many lessons, except from History, and that was mainly because Mr Alaric Saltzman was really hot. I know, bad reason, but every word that came from his mouth just seemed to hang in my memory. Then he hooked up with Elena's guardian, Jenna, and became totally off limits, but it did mean that we were on a first name basis.

This one day I was sat in Ric's lesson, listening to him finish explaining about the work we were going to do on the Suffragettes, when there was a knock at the door. The whole room went quiet, as we turned to see who it was who had come in. A tall guy, with beautiful blue eyes and tousled dirty blonde hair emerged from the doorway, and walked straight to the front, showing sir a note. Ric looked pretty confused, well we all did really. No one really moved school when there was only one year left, unless it was for an exclusion or something along those lines, and kids who had been excluded didn't really end up in the top sets, but by no means was I complaining.

"You can sit next to Caroline." Alaric said, indicating to the empty seat next to me. "She will tell you what you need to do." Ric told him, passing the guy an empty exercise book, before handing out the text books. The new guy flashed me a grin, that gave him the cutest dimples ever, before taking his place. I guessed that Ric had thought the same as me, and decided that he would put him at the front, just in case he was the type of guy who would cause trouble. Whereas the reason I had originally sat at the front was so I got a perfect view of his beautiful face, but it was finally proving to have other benefits.

"I'm Caroline…" I spluttered, before remembering that Ric had already told him my name. I mentally face palmed myself, just hoping that the kid hadn't realised my mistake. He obviously had though, as that grin that made my tummy feel like it was housing a family of butterflies returned.

"Yeah, he just said that," he chuckled, referring to Ric. His voice was beautiful, way posher than anyone else at this school, and I guessed that he came from London or somewhere around that area. For a moment we sat there awkwardly both figuring out who should make the next move. "I'm Niklaus. Most people just call me Klaus though." He told me, stepping up to the plate. For some reason I burst out into erratic giggling, obviously from nerves. The people around me gave me a strange look, knowing that Caroline Forbes was not somebody who would get nervous from simply talking to a boy, even if the boy was as gorgeous as this guy was.

Just as I was about to start conversation, Tyler Lockwood, my last fling, leaned over and whispered something in Klaus's ear. I didn't hear it, but from the look that I received from both of the boys, I guessed that it was about me. Tyler's look was sneaky, and his smirk just made him look like an axe murderer from a slasher film. Klaus on the other hand, gave me a look that was a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. I decided that for a change, I would try to be the better person, so instead of a sarcastic comment that I would usually send in Tyler's direction, I instead opened my book and started doing the work.

"Mr Saltzman said that for the work we need to just answer the questions on page three hundred and ninety four." I said curtly, as I flicked through the text book trying to find the right page. "It shouldn't be too hard, all the information is on the page if you just look." I added hoping that I didn't come off as being rude. I didn't know why I suddenly cared what the opinions of this new kid was, but for some reason, as I sat doing work on the suffragettes, I could barely concentrate as I saw him sneak glances at me from time to time. I guess Tyler had quickly got across the message of my extra curriculum activities. I could of killed him. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but what I had with this guy was something good. I took a deep breath, composing myself, as she turned to Klaus once again.

"Where are you next? I'll make sure you don't get lost," I said with a soft smile, hoping to plant seeds of doubt in what he thought of me. "Erm, I have Art." He told me, pulling out a time table. I grabbed my bag from under the table and pulled out my own. "With Miss Powell?" I asked him, thinking of the horrible woman who I had next. I wasn't the best at art, but I was definitely better than how she made me out as being.

"Yeah, in room D8?" He confirmed. This was good, I thought. This would give me a chance to redeem myself and explain to him that Tyler was just a dick. Even though the things that he had told the new kid were probably true, it annoyed me that out of all the people to tell him, it was Tyler, who was practically the male version of me. When we went out, we used to compare scores that we had. I broke it off with him as the sex wasn't particularly satisfying. I also made clear the reason why I had ended the relationship adding salt to the wound.

We spent the rest of the lesson in silence, just getting on with the work. I kept having a quick look at his book, to see how Klaus was doing and he seemed pretty smart. That was probably going to be helpful, I thought, knowing that I sometimes would get stuck, plus I was an expert when it came down to copying off of people. I had never been so excited to leave history before, as I heard the bell ring. I jumped up, faster than I expected, and slipped my coat on waiting for him to follow. I knew for sure that this would be the first art lesson that would interest me.

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	2. Chapter 2

Title – Love and Other Hardships  
Description – AU Klaroline. The story of how the birth of a child saved the life of a young couple, and the hardships the couple had to face to reach this point.  
Disclaimer – I do not own vampire diaries, but if I did no originals would die. Not even Finn or Mikael.  
A/N – I'm heartbroken. This took a while to write as when you deal with the loss of a loved one, you sometimes cant think straight. (Big Kol fan here)

"So what is the deal with you and that kid from history?" Klaus asked me, referring to Tyler. I let out a big sigh, not knowing how I should really word it. I didn't want to make him think bad of me, but as I figured each sentence out in my head, it just made me sound like a whore. That did make me think that I should try and rethink my ways. Then again, I thought, why should I be someone else, just because of this one guy, who had just walked into my life and started making me doubt myself. None of the guys I had being interested in had ever done that to me before, so it was keeping me on edge, making me weary of what I was doing.

"We had a thing, but I ended it. I guess he didn't like having a taste of his own medicine." I explained coming off crueller than I meant to, but when it came to Tyler, I didn't really feel it necessary to sugar coat how I thought about him. Klaus just chuckled, deciding not to press on the subject. I would have done the same if I was him. As Elena and Bonnie had soon figured out, I had a tendency to get worked up whenever the conversation involved my ex. He hadn't taken it well when I had told him that it was over, and decided that he would tell everyone the intimate details of our relationship. I retaliated the only way I really knew how. I told everyone in my class that Tyler had a small penis, starting a type of war between us both.

"Do you like art then?" Klaus questioned, probably thinking that the best course of action was to totally change the conversation.

"Sometimes." I said, not sure whether I should elaborate or not, but as he turned to me with one brow higher than the other in question. "I love sculpting and big pieces of art, but when it comes to pencil sketches, I spend too long trying to perfect them, then Miss Powell starts shouting, and gives me detentions, so I just give up." I shrugged, as we reached the classroom.

"She sounds like a lovely woman." he laughed, as I pulled a face. Miss Powell was anything but a lovely woman. She had a twisted face, that made her look as if she had just been sucking a lemon, and chopping brunette hair with highlights that were meant to be blonde but came out at a ginger colour. She wore these horrendous sliver boots, that had a slight heel on them, so you could hear her coming from a mile away. Just as that thought came into my head, I heard the offending shoes from behind me, and quickly dragged Klaus into the class, not turning to look at the woman, knowing that she would have a look of disgust upon her face, just from looking at me. Then again, it could just be her usual face.

In art I usually sat on my own, having a full table to myself, so I just led Klaus to the seat next to me, knowing that he could move if he wanted to. He didn't though, and as I pulled out my art book, he grabbed it out of my hand. "Give me it back!" I squealed, causing a few of the bitches in the class to give me a disgusted look. I didn't really have the chance to get it back, as Miss Powell stamped into the room, causing everyone to descend into silence. Klaus just flicked through the pages of my book that wasn't even filled half way yet.

"Just get on with your work, and anyone who is starting a screen printing today, come and join me in the print room after I have done the register." she said. I was meant to be doing a print, but I found them stupid and inane, so thought that there was no harm in putting it off for yet another lesson. Especially because Miss Powell was running the session. If it was Mr Pearson, then at least I would be able to last to lesson without getting an after school detention. Klaus flashed me a look, probably wondering if I was going to be leaving him, but I just gave a small shake of my head. As the infuriating woman read our names off of the register, I looked at Klaus's facial expression as he looked through my art book. He had a small smile on his face, and I wasn't sure if it was out of humour at my work, or whether he actually liked it.

"Niklaus Mikaelson?" Miss Powell asked confused, as she reached the kids name on the register. She looked around the room until she locked eyes on him. After a quick inspection, she decided that she would go into a fully detailed interrogation later, and just stuck with the basic questions. "Do you like to be called Nik or Klaus?" she asked him. I liked the name Nik, I decided it. It sounded nicer than Klaus did. "Also, you don't have to sit there if you don't want to." she added, making it sound like I had practically handcuffed him to myself so that I wasn't sat alone.

"No, it's fine, I want to sit here." he started, bringing a small smile to my lips. I knew that Miss Powell would have doubts about him now, as I swore down that she thought that anyone who actually liked me was mentally wrong in the head. "And most people call me Klaus, but I don't mind." he said, giving me a little half smirk before turning back to my book. I glanced at the page that he was up to, seeing that he was pretty much finished. The class actually stayed quiet for once, and for the first time ever, nobody was bitching about each other. They were all just looking in my direction, all probably thinking the same thing that I was. _Why on earth would he want to sit near me._ By no means was I complaining, but it was strange. I mean, I knew that Tyler hadn't given him the best first impression of me, plus half the things that had come out of my mouth that morning made me sound as if I was mentally unstable.

"You're book is really good." he told me, causing me to laugh. I wasn't very self confident, especially when my art work was involved. "So you're one of them?" he asked, with no more explanation on what it meant. By the sound of it, it wasn't particularly a good thing.

"One of what?" I asked, a stubborn pout plastered on my lips. I hated it when anyone tried to call me something, even if what they were insinuating was true.

"One of them girls who don't realise how amazing they actually are." he said bluntly as he passed me back my book. The only time guys were ever nice to me was when they wanted to get into my pants, so I wasn't really sure how to react. "You're blushing." he added, with a chuckle as my head instantly snapped down. I never blushed. Only if I was truly embarrassed about something, but I never blushed when someone tried flirting. I could usually join in, but with Klaus, it was different. I was more interested in his personality, than his looks (although I couldn't deny that he was gorgeous).

"Here, is a sketch book," Miss Powell said as she walked up to us passing him an empty black book. "You can just start doing pencil studies today, and then next lesson I will talk to you about your project." She added. He just nodded in thanks before pulling a pencil out of his bag and opening to the first page. He started working automatically, not even spending time to think about what he was going to draw. I was glad that Miss Powell had arrived at that moment, as I genuinely couldn't think of anything to say at that moment.

"So why did you move here?" I inquired, as I flipped through my book to the pencil study that I was working on. For a moment there was a silence, as he stopped drawing, and as I looked at his face, I saw something that I was very familiar with. He was trying to hide his emotions, by doing little things, like not looking up, and biting the inside of his cheeks. I knew well, as the year after my father left us, I would often become guarded, and hide how I was feeling. He was also gripping his pencil so hard that I was surprised that it didn't break.

"My brother, Henrik, got diagnosed with leukaemia a few years ago. He was strong. He coped better than me and my siblings." He started, and I instantly felt bad for bringing the topic up. It showed how little tact I actually had. "His immune system was low though, and he caught pneumonia, which to him was life threatening..." his voice hitched, and I realised what must have happened. I put a hand on top of his, and he looked straight into my eyes.

"I'm sorry." I said simply, before turning away back down to my book, letting my hand linger for a moment. "Do any of your other siblings go here?" I asked, hoping that this topic would be a bit lighter.

"Yeah, I have a younger brother, Kol, who is in the year below, and then there is Rebekah who is in her first year." he told me, and I started to hear the scratch of his pencil on the paper. At least that meant he hadn't actually broke his pencil, I thought.

"What are they like?" I pressed, wanting to talk to him, rather than actually carry on with my study. I was attempting to sketch a rose, but to me, it just looked like someone had viciously attacked the page with a pencil.

"Kol is annoying, seriously, one day someone would just kill him, just to shut him up." he gave a small chortle, but he didn't look up from his work once. "Rebekah is nicer, but she is naïve. I don't think that she would be able to cope without me or Elijah, our older brother." he said with a sigh.

"Your family sounds... Complicated." I decided, though I wasn't sure if complicated was good or bad thing. I did feel a twang of envy, though, as he had the one thing that I never did. Siblings. Just as he was about to reply, the head of our year, Miss Marshall, walked in. This was yet another teacher who I didn't like. She was young, in her mid twenties, with bleached blonde hair, fork loads of make up and so much fake tan that I often thought that if she ever left the school, Willy Wonka would be happy to take her on. I guessed that she only worked in the school to be with people around her mental age, which was pretty much, an annoying teenage girl.

"Caroline Forbes?" she asked, and I nearly swore at her. I never got taken out of art, not for anything, but the one day I was actually enjoying a lesson, Miss Marshall had to do call me out. "You shouldn't be too long, leave your bags." she said. Her normal fake toothy smile had gone and was replaced by a sombre frown, meaning that she had bad news. She wasn't good at giving it though, and more often than not, she gave it with as much tact as I owned.

"See you in a bit then." I whispered to Klaus before walking out, as every other girl in the class stared my way.

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